During Spokesperson’s Questions, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice & Equalities, Dr Altaf Hussain MS, raised a recent Age Cymru report on what matters to older people in Wales. Older people have told Age Cymru that access to cash and face-to-face banking remains a huge challenge, with one respondent to the Age Cymru survey saying; “Going to the local bank and everyone tells me to go online. No idea how!”
Additionally, The What Matters to You researchers spoke to one individual who said “My eyes are not good, so I don’t like online banking. My hearing isn’t good, so I don’t hear everything on the telephone. I need face-to-face communications for everything.”
Dr Hussain underlined that this is not an isolated experience and questioned what the Welsh Government will do to ensure that older people have access to face-to-face banking and cash across Wales.
Commenting, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice & Equalities, Dr Altaf Hussain MS, said:
“Too many older people in Wales are being left behind by the rapid shift to online services. Access to cash and face-to-face banking isn’t a luxury, it’s a lifeline.
“The Welsh Government must work with banks and local authorities to ensure older people aren’t excluded or forced into isolation by the loss of vital services.
“Our older generation deserves dignity, independence, and real choice, not to be dismissed and told to ‘just go online’ when that simply isn’t possible for some people.”
